Looking glum for life on Mars.
From Wikipedia "Perchlorate": BIOLOGY: Over 40 phylogenetically and metabolically diverse microorganisms capable of growth via perchlorate reduction have been isolated since
--actually, here's what seems to me a pretty convincing argument there is not life on Mars! 1996. Most originate from the Proteobacteria but others include the Firmicutes, Moorella perchloratireducens and Sporomusa sp., and the archaeon Archaeoglobus fulgidus.[10][11] With the exception of A. fulgidus, all known microbes that grow via perchlorate reduction utilize the enzymes perchlorate reductase and chlorite dismutase, which collectively take perchlorate to innocuous chloride.[10] In the process, free oxygen (O2) is generated and this is one of only a handful of biological processes to generate oxygen aside from photosynthesis.[10] Apparently that research was prompted by perchlorate pollution of water now being a major problem caused by irresponsible rocket manufacturers. Well damn, I did not know that. So if there were microbes on Mars, they'd be crazy not to utilize this excellent free energy source of all those perchlorates lying around constituting about 0.6 weight percent of all Martian rocks/dirt. Which therefore would no longer be lying around. (Same way they aren't available in Nature here on Earth... except in Chilean nitrate deposits...) So there are not Mars microbes, QED.